Carlsberg UK Celebrates Five Years of Championing Craft Beer

Carlsberg UK has launched the latest edition of its Crafted portfolio, marking five years of supporting its customers and enabling them to make the most of the burgeoning craft category.

Since its launch, craft beer has gone from being an emerging category to a must-have, and the trend shows no signs of slowing down with craft beer sales up 15% and distribution up 20% this year versus 2017 Compiled by experts at Carlsberg UK in conjunction with renowned beer writer Pete Brown, this year’s Crafted handbook features 64 beers and ciders including draught, world, craft and speciality variants.

New for this year are additional variants from Toast, the brewery behind the UK’s first ‘bread to beer’ ale and winners of last year’s ‘Your Beer Here?’ competition which offered a new brewery the chance to secure a listing.

Innovation from the London Fields brewery is showcased within the range, alongside firm favourites from established breweries including Brooklyn Brewery, Duvel Moorgat and Brewdog, while lesser known beers like Session from ShinDigger ensure the range is truly comprehensive.

Adrian Rigby, marketing manager for Crafted at Carlsberg UK, commented: “We are extremely proud to have built what has become a highly respected go-to guide for craft beer and cider which has helped so many publicans feel confident about providing a craft offering and boosting their sales as a result.

“Since we launched the range we’ve seen an incredible amount of innovation in the category and consumers have responded enthusiastically by experimenting with so many new styles and variants. The category growth is showing no sign of slowing down so we’re delighted to continue supporting our customers in making the most of it.”

The handbook offers step-by-step guidance on how to get started when choosing a craft beer range as well as providing advice on glassware and helping customers to tap into the trend for dining ‘experiences’ by offering useful tips on pairing beer with food.